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(N0 Model.)'

1). CONEKIN.

SHELL FUSE. No. 523,881. Patented July 31, 1894.

INVENTOH x 'lllllllllll YMi'. mums PETERS co. PHOYO-UTHO" WASHINGYON. o.c.

Mrs STATES DAWSON OONEKIN, OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OFTWVO- Fries.

THTRDS TO JAMES J. IGOE AND JOHN J. OCONNOR, OF SAME PLACE.

. SHELL-FUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,881, dated July 31,1894. Applicati n filed May 12, 1893. Serial No. 478,927. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known. that I, DAWSON CONEKIN, of Charleston, in the county ofCharleston and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Fuses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescr1ption My invention relates to an improvement in mechanical fusesor detonators, especially adapted, for exploding shells used inpneumatic guns, and also for exploding torpedoes. The object of theinvention is to provide a fuse which will be of exceedingly simple,durable and economic construction, and which will be fired by impact atits forward end with any object it may strike, whether the object be asolid, or a fluid, as for example water.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the fuse that nomatter to what degree the inner end of the fuse may be struck, orsubmitted to pressure constant or gradual, the impact or pressure willnot act in any manner to explode the fuse, thus rendering it perfectlysafe while being handled. As a preventive against premature explosion,the fuse is provided with a safety latch which will prevent the hammerfrom acting except When it is necessary, or it is desirable to have itact, the safety latch being so constructed that after the shell leavesthe mortar or gun in which it is fired, the rotary movement of the shellwill cause the safety latch to be antomatically carried out of the wayof the firing hammer and permit said hammer to act.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a simple means for timingthe fuse, and also to provide a means for producing a flamecomparatively the entire length of the fuse, thus causing the explosivein the shell to be instantly ignited over a major portion of itssurface.

Theinvention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a fuse. Fig. 2 is adiametrical section taken essentially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. is asimilar section, taken practically on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is aview of the rear end of the fuse. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portionof the mechanism operating the safetylatch and Fig. 6 is adetailperspective view of a spiral coupling which is used to time the actionof the fuse.

The body of the shell A of the fuse may be cylindrical or circular incross section, and is hollow; and furthermore the body is ordinarilymade in two sections 10 and 11, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A thread isproduced at each end of the body, and the body sections are united andheld connected through the medium of a front cap 12 and a rear cap 13,said caps being preferably secured upon the outer faces of the body, asshown in Fig. 1. Near the forward end of the bodya partition Fig. 3

14, is located, and between the center and rear end a second partition15, is produced, while a third partition 16, is produced between therear end cap and the inner partition 15. In the rear partition 16, acylinder 17 is formed, the said cylinder being adapted to contain afluid, water, for example, and within the cylinder a piston 18, isloosely fitted, which piston is secured to arod 19, the

said rod being passed through a suitable packed opening in the innerface of the cylinder.

A pinion 20, is secured upon the inner end of the piston rod 19, and thesaid piston meshes with a quadrantal gear 21, the gear being secured toa time shaft 22, journaled in suitable bearings in what may be termedthe bottom of the body chamber. The time shaft is likewise journaled inposts 23 and 24,

located near the rear cap, and the time shaft passes through a suitableopening made in the said rear cap, and its outer end is provided with apointer 25, which is adapted to travel over a scale 26 of secondsproduced 5 upon the outer face of the rear cap. The pinion 20, which isfast to the piston rod 19, is provided with a coupling 26, and thecoupling is provided with a spiral groove 27. The coupling is adapted toreceive one end of a firing shaft B, which end of the firing shaft hasfree end movement in an opening produced in the inner partition 15, andat the rear extremity of the said firing shaft a pin 28, is located,which extends out through the groove in the coupling. Thus when thepinion 20, is turned in one direction the firing shaft will be held incoupling connection with it, and when turned in an opposite directionthe rear end of the firing shaft may readily leave the coupling. Thefiring shaft is made in three sections, a rear section b, anintermediate section I) and a forward section b The forward section hasend movement in the forward partition 14, and the central section I), ofthe firing shaft is provided with a weight 29 secured upon it.

The inner ends of the end sections b and b of the firing shaft arepreferably concaved, and the extremities of the central section b, arerounded off or convexed in order that they may fit in the concaved orsocketed ends of the outer sections of the shaft. The sections of theshaft are held in engagement, or are held connected, by a spring 30,which spring is secured in any suitable or approved manner in the bodyof the shell, preferably between the partition 14 and the front cap, thespring having constant bearing against the forward end section of thefiring shaft, and it exerts pressure upon said section in an inwardlydirection. The rearward move ment of the rear section of the firingshaft is limited by a pin 31, passed through it, as shown in Fig. 1.

The opening in the partition 15, through which the rear section of thefiring shaft passes, is quite large, and within this opening a trigger32, is pivoted, preferably at its center; and one end of the triggerwhen the sections of the firing shaft are coupled, is adapted to enter arecess 33, produced in the rear section of the said firing shaft, asshown in Fig. 1, while at that time the upper portion of the triggerwill bear against the rear end of the hammer 34, which hammer is in theshape of a rod or shaft, and is adapted to have end movement in asuitable bearing produced in the upper portion of the opening in the partition 15.

A spring 35, is made to encircle the hammer shaft, which spring hasbearing at its rear end against a projection formed on the shaft, andthe forward end of the spring rests against the rear face of the frontpartition 14, while the rear end of the hammer shaft passes through anopening 36 made in the said par tition. When the trigger is inengagement with the hammer shaftthe spring 35, is compressed, so thatthe moment the trigger is removed from engagement with the hammer shaftthe spring propels it violently forward, and upon the forward movementof the hammer shaft it is adapted to be brought in engagement with a cap36 placed upon a suitable nipple 37, the nipple being in communicationwith a magazine chamber 38.

The magazine chamber extends longitudiiially along the body of the shellbetween the caps of the body, and may be of any cross sectional shape;in the drawings the ma or portion of the chamber is shown assemi-circular, but the rear portion, or that portion with which thenipple connects, is of much greater diameter and is shown as circular,as may be seen in Figs. 1 and 2. This magazine chamber is adapted tocontain fulininate of mercury, or other explosive, and in the outer wallof the chamber a series of apertures 39, is made, through which theflame may escape the length of the magazine chamher, and ignite the guncotton or other explosive contained in the shell. Thus it will beobserved that whatever explosive may be contained in the shell ortorpedo in connection with which the fuse is employed,will besimultaneously ignited throughout a considerable area.

In order to prevent danger when thefuse is handled, a safety latch 40,is located within the shell. Ordinarily this latch consists of a barpivoted upon the inner face of the partition 16, its pivotal end beingpressed 111 311 upwardly direction by a spring 41, which serves to holdthe free end of the latch bar in the path of the hammer shaft; andtherefore, should the hammer shaft become released accidentally it cannot strike the OXPlOSlVG cap 36", but must engage with the safety latch40. The free end of the safety latch is pivotally connected with a yoke42, which yoke is shown in detail in Fig. 5, and the rear portion of theyoke is pivotally connected with a lever 43, fulcrumed within an openingproduced in the lower portion of the partition 16, preferably beneaththe cylinder 17, as shown in Fig. 1. The lever extends beyond the rearface of the said partition, and is connected by a cord 44, or theequivalent thereof, with a short shaft 45, journaled in the posts 23 and24, which shaft is provided with a pendulum weight 46, connected withit, the lower portion of the weight being the heaviest, and said weightis best shown in Fig. 2.

The weight is adapted to revolve the shaft 45, and wind upon it the cord44 and thereby draw the safety latch 40, out of the path of the firingshaft; and after the latch has been carried out of the path of thefiring shaft it is held in that position by means of a spring 46,secured preferably to the rear face of the partition 15, which springwill bear against the upper face of the latch and exert downwardpressure thereon; but the spring need not necessarily engage with thelatch but with the pivot pin 47, by means of which the latch is pivotedto the yoke 42.

In order to prevent the shaft 45 from turning when the fuse is handledto a great extent and turned around, thereby causing the safety latch tobe carried out of the path of the hammer shaft, a screw 48, is made toenter an opening 49 in the weight 46 of the shaft, which screw isentered through an opening made in the rear cap. Thus it will beobserved that when this screw is employed the weight 46 can notbe moved.i

The scale or dial 26, as has heretofore been stated, is preferably madea dial of seconds,

and is intended to indicate the number of seconds which will interveneafter the fuse engages with an object and the time that it will explode.For example, by placing the indi- [o cator or hand 25 to the extremeright the time will be fifteen seconds, which is the extreme limit; bymoving the pointer to the left but five seconds may be made to intervenethe time ofthe explosion and the time that the [5 fuse strikes anobject; or the dial may be so set as to cause the explosion to takeplace almost instantly with the impact of the fuse. When the pointer isset the quad rantal gear rotates the pinion, and therefore engages ordisengages the pin 28. The travel of the piston is regulated by theengagement of the pin with the spiral coupling. The quadrantal gear doesnot move after the pointer is set. The spiral coupling catches the pinat whatever point it may be set, and holds the piston rod together withthe shaft, and draws the piston forward until the trigger slips. Thus itwill be observed that if the pointeris placed at 15 seconds, the pistonwill have to draw forward the full distance of the travel of thetrigger, and if the pointer is placed at onehalf the distance from 15 tozero, the piston will only have to travel one-half of the distance thatit would in the instance first 5 named; but when the pointer is placedat zero the pin 28 will not engage the spiral coupling, and consequentlythere will be no travel whatever to the piston and the action will beinstantaneous.

The action of firing is substantially as follows: The parts having beenset as shown in Fig. 1, that is, with the firing shaft in couplingposition and the trigger in engagement with the shaft and with thehammer shaft, 5 and the safety latch being within the path of the hammershaft, the time mechanism is set and the screw 48,is removed from theweight, leaving the pendulum weight 46 on the winding 'shaft free toact. When the shell leaves the gun in which it is loaded, the shell andconsequently the fuse will have more or less of a rotary motion, andtherefore the weight 46, will revolve, turning the shaft 45,

and the shaft when turning will wind around it the cord 44, carrying thesafety latch out of the path of the hammer shaft. The moment that theforward end of the fuse meets with and strikes an object the concussionor impact will cause the forward section of the firing shaft to pressforward the spring 30, thereby releasing the central weighted section ofthe shaft. The rear section b of the firing shaft will now be free tomove forward and permit the trigger to release the hammer shaft if thesaid section of the firing shaft were not coupled with the piston rod19, but the tension of the spring exerted through the medium of thetrigger upon the rear section of the firing shaft will cause saidsection to be carried forward. Atthesame time, through the action of thespring the piston will be drawn forward and the water which 15 1n frontof the piston will slowly escape to the back, the water acting to retardthe movement of the piston. A rear section of the firing shaft will alsobe released at this time, and that section will be carried forward, andthe hammer shaft will be freed from the trigger and will move rearwardagainst the firing cap 36, exploding that cap and consequently ignitingthe explosive material containedun the magazine, which will communicatew1t h the charge in the shell. It is therefore evident that the pressureof the water upon the piston 18, together with the position of thequadrantal gear 21, will regulate the time of the explosion. I

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a fuse, a spring-controlled hammer, a sectionalfiring shaft the sections of which are adapted to be separated byconcussion, and a trigger connection between the firing shaft and thehammer, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a fuse, a spring-controlled hammer, a sectional firing shaft, oneof the sections being weighted, and a trigger connection between thefiring shaft and the hammer, as IOC and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a fuse, a spring-controlled hammer, a sectional firing shaft, oneof the sections being weighted and the sections of the shaft having acoupling capable of being disjointed 1o 5 by concussion, and a triggerconnection between the firing shaft and the hammer, as and for thepurpose set forth.

4. In a fuse, a spring-controlled hammer, a sectional firing shafthaving a coupling con- I 10 nection capable of being disjointed byconcussion, a trigger connection between a section of the firing shaftand the hammer, and a time mechanism connected with the section of thefiring shaft operated upon by the trigr 15 ger, as and for the purposeset forth.

5. A fuse having secured to its exterior wall,

a magazine chamber extending along the said wall and communicating withthe interior of the fuse by means of an opening adjacent to :20 which afulminating cap is located, the outer wall of the said magazine chamberbeing provided with a series of transverse apertures, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a fuse, the combination, with the ham- 1 25 mer, of a safety latchlocated normally within the path of the hammer, means, substantially asdescribed, for removing the latch from the path of the hammer when arotary movement is imparted to the fuse, and a locking device I 0projecting to the exterior of the fuse so as to be capable of being setand released by the operator for preventing the said means from beingoperated when the fuse is being handled, as set forth.

7. In a fuse, the combination, with the hammer, of a safety latchlocated normally within the path of the hammeiga lever connected withthe safety latch, a shaft having rotary movement, a pendulum Weightconnected with the shaft, and a flexible connection between the leverand the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

8. In a fuse, the combination, with a hammer, of a safety deviceconsisting of a latch normally located in the path of the hammer, alever connected with the latch, a shaft mounted to turn within the fuse,a pendulum weight connected with the shaft, a cord connection betweenthe shaft and the lever, and a locking device for removable connectionwith the pendulum weight, all combined for operation substantially asherein shown and described.

9. In a fuse, the combination, with a springcontrolled firing hammer, afiring shaft constructed in sections, having a coupling connectioncapable of being disjointed by concussion at the forward end of theshaft, a fluidcontaining cylinder, a piston loosely mounted in thecylinder, the piston rod of which is provided with an attached pinion,and a coupling having a spiral opening, the rear section of the shaftbeing adapted to enter the said coupling, a pin located upon the rearshaft section and entering the spiral channel in the coupling, a timeshaft, and a gear connection between the time shaft and the piston rodpt 11- ion, as and for the purpose set forth.

DAXVSON CONEKIN.

Witnesses:

L. M. PINOKNEY, T. J. DELACEY.

